The LCA.

When designing for a client it is important to perform a systems analysis to better understand each element of a design and the interactions among them. It is important to look at this not only in a design aspect but also a sustainability aspect. To better understand the sustainability aspect, a life cycle assessment or an LCA should be preformed to help identify each phase that occurs in the life of a product and also to determine the natural and human-made resources that are required for each phase. The first stage of the LCA is the stage that identifies all of the components or products involved during the life of an entity or product. In this stage you may determine that you need wood for a chair. The second stage identifies the stages of the products used. This stage can includes the extraction of raw materials, the refining of the raw materials, the manufacturing of the product, the consumers’ use of the product, and the disposal and/or recycling of the product. In the second stage you will identify that the wood for the chair will need to be cut down from a tree (extracted), processed through a mill (refined), built into a chair (manufacturing), cleaned with chemicals (consumer use), and finally taken to a land fill (disposal). During the third process you will determine the environmental impact from each of the stages determined in stage two. This would evaluate, for example, the amount of electricity and GHG’s emitted from the milling stage of wood. Stage four, my personal favorite, is the stage where you will introduce alternatives for the environmental burdens. This is the stage that once you have identified the problems you can come up with creative solutions to reduce their impact. Stage four can help open up the floor to the voice of an interior designer to ask questions like “what materials are used for this sofa’s frame” or “ During the construction of this sofa how did the manufacturer deal with the emissions or solid waste”? It is important to ask these questions to learn the most about where and how products are manufactured and delivered so you can educate yourself and your clients on the interactions between natural resources and the life of a human-made products as well as how these interactions affect the environment.

*Information received from http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/std/lca/lca.html and Winchip, S. (2011). Sustainable design for interior environments . (2nd ed.). Fairchild Books.